Label: Ninja Tune
Released: 5th February 2021
Black Country, New Road are a band who don’t have time for the regular concerns that most bands have. Y’know, songs, melodies, things like that. Instead, they just want to make noise and create their own unique blend of chaos and destruction. It’s an approach they use to mixed results on their invigorating and ever so slightly bonkers debut album ‘For The First Time’.
Opening track ‘Instrumental’ sets the tone as the band establish a foreboding rolling percussive groove and splurge out all manner of sounds on top of it including a jaunty saxophone groove and a manic morse code like guitar line. It feels like music to soundtrack an impending apocalypse.
Despite the ferocious and thrilling quality of much of the music here it’s frustrating how flashes of melody and beauty flutter in and out giving only tantalising glimpses. Tracks like ‘Science Fair’ meander along with spoken word lyrics and jazzy noodlings and gurglings while ‘Sunglasses’ unhinged racket is a disconcerting and discombobulating 10-minute headfuck. By the time they get to ‘Track X’ though their blend of sonic combustion gives way to genuinely tender beauty and you realise Black Country New Road aren’t just mere shock merchants.
There’s a whole lot going on on this carefree debut album. They are resolutely doing things their way and nothing is going to stop them. The many devotees they’ve captured so far might be enraptured by their debut’s wild sonic abandon while others may just think ‘What a racket?’. Either way, Black Country, New Road are making an impression.
